U.S. patent application number 10/624434 was filed with the patent office on 2005-08-11 for karabiners.
This patent application is currently assigned to DMM Engineering Ltd.. Invention is credited to Hall, Frederick Allan.
Application Number | 20050172461 10/624434 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 9940919 |
Filed Date | 2005-08-11 |
United States Patent
Application |
20050172461 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Hall, Frederick Allan |
August 11, 2005 |
Karabiners
Abstract
A karabiner comprises a generally C-shaped body, with its free
ends curved towards each other and forming a gap therebetween, a
gate for closing the gap, and a roller mounted in a recess at one
end of the body to act as a runner for ropes and the like.
Inventors: |
Hall, Frederick Allan;
(Waunfawr, GB) |
Correspondence
Address: |
THE WEBB LAW FIRM, P.C.
700 KOPPERS BUILDING
436 SEVENTH AVENUE
PITTSBURGH
PA
15219
US
|
Assignee: |
DMM Engineering Ltd.
Llanberis
GB
|
Family ID: |
9940919 |
Appl. No.: |
10/624434 |
Filed: |
July 22, 2003 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
24/599.9 |
Current CPC
Class: |
Y10T 24/45361 20150115;
A63B 29/02 20130101; F16B 45/02 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
024/599.9 |
International
Class: |
F16B 045/02 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jul 23, 2002 |
GB |
0217010.8 |
Claims
1. A karabiner comprising a generally C-shaped body, with its free
ends curved towards each other and forming a gap therebetween, a
gate for closing the gap, and at least one roller, wherein the gate
is adapted to open inwardly in the plane of the body.
2. A karabiner as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one
roller is positioned relative to the body of the karabiner, so as
to reduce rope drag through the karabiner in normal climbing
situations.
3. A karabiner as claimed in claim 1, wherein a single roller is
located at one end of the karabiner body, wherein the body bends to
form one free end of the C-shape.
4. A karabiner as claimed in claim 3, wherein the roller is at the
end of the karabiner at which the free end of the gate locates.
5. A karabiner as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a roller
at each end of the karabiner body.
6. A karabiner as claimed in claim 1, wherein instead of a single
roller at any end of the karabiner body, a pair of rollers is
provided side by side.
7. A karabiner as claimed in claim 6, wherein a pair of rollers is
positioned at one end of the karabiner and a single roller at the
opposite end.
8. A karabiner as claimed in claim 1, wherein a roller forms part
of the body of the karabiner.
9. A karabiner as claimed in claim 8, wherein the roller forms part
of a side of the karabiner body.
10. A karabiner as claimed in claim 8, wherein the roller is
mounted within the body of the karabiner.
11. A karabiner as claimed in claim 10, wherein the roller is
mounted within a recess formed in the body.
12. A karabiner as claimed in claim 1, wherein the roller has a
concave profile to provide a running groove for a rope.
13. A karabiner as claimed in claim 12, wherein for karabiners
where the roller is mounted within a recess of the body, the
profile of the recess will correspond with the roller profile, so
that there is a consistent gap between the roller and the body.
14. A karabiner as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one
roller is mounted for free rotation on at least one axle mounted
between sides of at least one roller recess.
15. A karabiner as claimed in claim 14, wherein the axle is
deformable under high loads, so that the roller will contact the
body of the karabiner to provide braking.
16. A karabiner as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one
roller is formed as a single component.
17. A karabiner as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one
roller is formed as a split component.
18. A karabiner as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a webbing
sling or strap.
19. A karabiner as claimed in claim 18, wherein the body of the
karabiner has a groove in at least one face thereof to provide a
location for the webbing sling or strap.
20. A karabiner as claimed in claim 19, wherein the grooves are at
the opposite end of the karabiner to the rollers.
21. A karabiner as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a
spring-loaded gate.
22. A karabiner as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a solid
gate.
23. A karabiner as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a wire
gate.
24. A karabiner as claimed in claim 1, further comprising
additional gate locking means.
25. A karabiner as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a ring at
one end of the body.
Description
[0001] This invention concerns snap hooks, also known as
karabiners, for use in climbing and other activities requiring
connections to be made to ropes, cables and carrying loops for
equipment.
[0002] Karabiners generally comprise a C-shaped body with its ends
curved towards each other and forming a gap closed by a spring
loaded gate pivotally mounted on one body end and urged into
engagement with the other body end. A thimble or other locking
member may be provided either on the gate or the free body end and
which is movable, say slidably or along screw threading, to lock
the gate in a closed position.
[0003] When unlocked, the gate of a karabiner is urged closed and a
rope or loop can be snapped into the karabiner by pushing it
against the gate to open it. Once the rope or loop is in the
confines of the C-shaped body, the gate can spring back to its
closed position, where it can be locked, if desired.
[0004] In climbing and mountaineering situations it is common for a
length of rope to have a number of karabiners connected to and for
the rope to be pulled through them as the climber makes progress on
the route in question. Interference between the rope and the
karabiners causes friction and therefore drag on the rope. This
interference increases with the number of karabiners and the amount
of sideways deviation (zigzagging) of the rope between the
karabiners.
[0005] Good climbing practice aims to reduce the amount of sideways
rope deviation between karabiners but that is not always possible,
given the random nature of mountain and rock route formations. Even
the use of twin ropes cannot guarantee elimination of rope drag on
a route and the problem becomes exaggerated as ropes for climbing
and mountaineering steadily increase in length to suit market
demands for longer routes.
[0006] Rope drag can significantly increase the risks in climbing
and has only really been addressed for climbing and mountaineering
rescue situations, where it is normal to use any number of pulley
type products in conjunction with karabiners to reduce drag and
friction.
[0007] An object of the present invention is to provide a karabiner
with reduced rope drag and friction properties.
[0008] According to the invention it is proposed that a karabiner
of the type comprising a generally C-shaped body, with its free
ends curved towards each other and forming a gap therebetween, and
a gate for closing the gap has one or more rollers.
[0009] Ideally the or each roller is positioned relative to the
body of the karabiner, so as to reduce rope drag through the
karabiner in normal climbing situations. The karabiners of the
invention preferably are also able to act also as pulleys and so
may be useful for use in rescue situations.
[0010] In one preferred embodiment of the invention a karabiner
will have a single roller located at one end of the karabiner body,
where the body bends to form one free end of the C-shape. In
conventional karabiners there will usually be a rope guide groove
at that position. The roller in this embodiment is preferably at
the end of the karabiner at which the free end of the gate
locates.
[0011] It is also envisaged that karabiners of the invention may
have a roller at each end of the karabiner body.
[0012] It is further envisaged that instead of a single roller at
any end of the karabiner body, a pair of rollers may be provided
side by side. It may be desirable to have a pair of rollers at one
end of the karabiner and a single roller at the opposite end.
[0013] A roller may form part of the body of a karabiner of the
invention. In other words the roller will form part of a side of
the karabiner body. More preferably the roller will be mounted
within the body of the karabiner, i.e. within a recess formed in
the body.
[0014] The rollers used in karabiners of the invention will
preferably have a concave profile to provide a running groove for a
rope. Preferably for karabiners where the roller is mounted within
a recess of the body, the profile of the recess will correspond
with the roller profile, so that there can be a consistent gap
between the roller and the body.
[0015] Rollers used in karabiners of the invention are preferably
mounted for free rotation on axles mounted between sides of the
roller recesses. The axle is preferably deformable under high
loads, such as fall loads, so that the roller will contact the body
of the karabiner to provide braking. The deformation of the axle
may also serve to provide additional strength for the karabiner by
triangulation.
[0016] Rollers used in karabiners of the invention may be single
components or may be formed as say two split components.
[0017] It may be desirable to provide a webbing sling or strap on a
karabiner for attachment thereof to other items of equipment.
Preferably the body of a karabiner of the invention will have a
groove In at least one face thereof to provide a location for the
webbing sling or strap. The grooves are preferably at the opposite
end of the karabiners to the rollers.
[0018] The present invention may be applied to any karabiners of
the basic type defined irrespective of the type of gate. Thus
karabiners of the invention may have solid gates or wire gates and
may have additional gate locking means.
[0019] Karabiners of the invention may be provided with a loop or
ring at one end of the body, wherein the karabiner can be attached
to other items of equipment.
[0020] This invention will now be further described, by way of
example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in
which:
[0021] FIG. 1 shows a pair of climbers using a single rope;
[0022] FIG. 2 shows a pair of climbers using a pair of ropes;
[0023] FIG. 3 shows a pair of climbers using a single rope with
greater degree of zigzagging;
[0024] FIG. 4 shows a pair of climbers using a pair of ropes again
with a greater degree of zigzagging;
[0025] FIG. 5 shows a conventional karabiner;
[0026] FIG. 6 shows a karabiner according to the invention;
[0027] FIG. 7 is an exploded view of the karabiner of FIG. 6;
[0028] FIG. 8 shows the karabiner of FIG. 6 with a webbing sling;
and
[0029] FIGS. 9 to 14 show other karabiners according to the
invention.
[0030] Referring to FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings, a pair of
climbers 10 and 12 using a single rope 14 that runs through
karabiners 16 that are attached to a rock face by various items of
rock climbing equipment. The lower climber 10 belays the lead
climber 12 who climbs past the karabiners. In the illustrated
situation the rope remains fairly straight, so that there is little
risk of friction through the karabiners.
[0031] Similarly in the arrangement shown in FIG. 2 of the
accompanying drawings two ropes 20 and 22 are used but still
without zigzagging between each karabiner 16.
[0032] However, in the arrangements shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the
former with a single rope 30 and the latter with two ropes 32 and
34, the ropes zigzag between the karabiners 16 introducing the risk
of rope drag through the karabiners.
[0033] FIG. 5 of the accompanying drawings shows a conventional
karabiner 40 comprising a generally C-shaped body 42 having its
free ends 44, 46 generally facing each other but leaving a gap 48
therebetween. Pivotally mounted on one free end 46 of the body is a
gate 50. The body 42 of the karabiner where it curves at its bottom
end as drawn is shaped to provide a groove location 52 for ropes or
the like.
[0034] The gate 50 is formed of wire basically bent double. The
wire is bent double to form two strands 52, 54 with a loop between
them. The two strands 52, 54 overlie each other for a first part
from the loop, so that In the karabiner they are in the plane of
the body. From the end of the first part, the two strands diverge
to opposite sides of the body before bending inwards to form ends
58, 60 that each locate in separate holes one above the other in
the free end 46 of the karabiner body. The shaping of the gate and
the offsetting of its pivot points urge the gate to a closed
position. Once pressure is applied to the gate inwardly, it will
open but will always spring back to a closed position when the
pressure is removed. Thus, a rope or the like can be pushed into
the karabiner through the gate which then snaps back to close the
karabiner and retain the rope or the like therein.
[0035] The free end of the gate has located in the loop a nut 66
and the free end 44 of the karabiner body has a shaped slot 68,
which receives the nut when the gate is closed.
[0036] Turning to FIGS. 6 and 7 of the accompanying drawings, a
karabiner 100 according to the invention is shown, which is based
on the design of karabiner shown in FIG. 5. At the end of the
karabiner body where the rope groove would normally be, a recess
102 is formed in the body. The recess has parallel sides 104 and a
convex base 106. A roller 108 is mounted in the recess 102 on an
axle 110. The axle 110 is fitted through a hole 112 through the
body to one side of the recess and into a blind bore 114 in the
opposite side of the recess.
[0037] The roller 108 has a concave profile to provide a running
groove for a rope 116. As can be seen, the profile of the roller
matches the profile of the base of the recess. By making the axle
so that it can deform under heavy loads, such as due to a fall, the
roller will contact the base of the recess to stop or slow down
rotation of the roller in order to provide a braking action on the
rope. Furthermore, once the axle has been deformed due to a high
load, the roller will not rotate and that will serve as an
indication that the karabiner should no longer be used.
[0038] At the opposite end of the karabiner body it may be
desirable to attach a webbing sling 120 for attachment of the
karabiner to other equipment. For that purpose, that end of the
body has a groove 124 In at least one face of the body to serve to
locate the webbing sling.
[0039] Turning to FIGS. 9 to 14, there are shown variations on the
karabiner of FIG. 6. Like parts have been given the same reference
numbers for simplicity. In FIG. 9, the roller 200 is at the gate
pivot end of the karabiner rather than at the gate-locking end as
in FIG. 6.
[0040] In FIG. 10, a karabiner has a pair of rollers 210 and 212,
the rollers being at opposite ends of the karabiner body.
[0041] FIG. 11 shows a karabiner that is similar to that of FIG.
10, except that the rollers 220,222 are split transversely to their
axles. This arrangement offers design freedom in achieving
controlled deformation of the axle as previously described.
[0042] FIG. 12A is a plan view and FIG. 12B is a section on line AA
of FIG. 12A. In these drawings instead of a single roller at one
end of the karabiner, a pair of side-by-side rollers 230 is
provided.
[0043] FIG. 13 shows a karabiner having it roller 240 between parts
of a split body.
[0044] Finally, FIG. 14 shows a karabiner 300 having a body 42, a
gate 50 with a pivoting locking component 302 on the opposite side
of the body, a roller 108 at the end of the body where the free end
of the gate locates and a ring 304 at the opposite end of the body.
The ring can be used to attach the karabiner to other items of
equipment, such as, for example a belt or rope.
* * * * *